Protecting taxpayers' rights in Vietnamese law

Adjusting the interest relationship when amending the Law on Corporate Income Tax”, Journal of Legislative Studies , (8), April; Nguyen Thi Lan Huong (2013), “On protecting taxpayers’ rights in the Law on Tax Administration”, Journal of Science of VNU , (1), pp.42-50; Duong Kim The Nguyen (2012), “The Law on Tax Administration from the perspective of taxpayers”, Journal of Legislative Studies, (12), June; Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu (2013), “Taxpayers’ right to access information”, Journal of Legal Science, (2), pp.67-72, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law; Quy Truong (2011), “The Law on Tax Administration “forgets” the responsibility of tax authorities”, Journal of State Tax , (37), October.

Looking back at recent research works in the field of taxation, there has not been any legal research work at the master's level that has conducted in-depth research on the protection of taxpayers' rights in Vietnamese law. On the basis of absorbing and inheriting the scientific achievements of published research works, the thesis continues to study, supplement and perfect the system of theoretical bases of the law on rights and protection of taxpayers' rights. On that basis, analyze and study specific contents in the current state of law as well as the practice of protecting taxpayers' rights in order to be able to propose some orientations to contribute to improving the effectiveness of protecting taxpayers' rights in Vietnamese law. With the above perspective and assessment, the master's thesis topic: "Protecting taxpayers' rights in Vietnamese law" is necessary and meaningful.

practical significance both in theory and practice.

3. Research purpose

The purpose of the thesis is to clarify issues on taxpayers' rights, protect taxpayers' rights under Vietnamese law, and analyze some aspects of the State's right to collect taxes and evaluate the implementation of the Tax Administration Law (QLT) in recent times. On that basis, the thesis proposes some orientations to improve the effectiveness of protecting taxpayers' rights in Vietnam.

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4. Research objects and scope

The research object of the thesis is the protection of taxpayers' rights under Vietnamese law, especially in the Tax Administration Law No. 78/2006/QH11 (amended and supplemented by a number of articles in Law No. 21/2012/QH13). The research scope of the thesis is the contents of taxpayers' rights and protection of taxpayers' rights under Vietnamese law; at the same time, it compares and contrasts with the laws of some countries on taxpayers' rights and protection of taxpayers' rights.

5. Research methods

To achieve the set objectives, the thesis combines research methods such as: dialectical materialism, data collection, statistical methods, and comparison methods to clarify the research issues. Specific methods used in the research process include: interpretation, analysis, comparison, contrast, commentary, synthesis, induction, etc.

6. Structure of the Thesis

In addition to the list of abbreviations, preface, conclusion, and list of references, the thesis is structured into three chapters:

Chapter 1 : Basic theoretical issues on taxpayers' rights and protection of taxpayers' rights in Vietnamese law

Chapter 2 : Current status of laws on protecting taxpayers' rights in Vietnam.

Chapter 3 : Some orientations to improve the effectiveness of protecting taxpayers' rights in Vietnam.

Chapter 1

BASIC THEORETICAL ISSUES ON TAXPAYERS' RIGHTS AND PROTECTION OF TAXPAYERS' RIGHTS IN VIETNAMESE LAW

1.1. Concept, legal position, role of taxpayers

1.1.1. Concept of taxpayer

Taxpayers (TP) as a party participating in tax legal relations have the obligation to register for tax, declare tax, and pay tax according to the provisions of law. This is an obligation attached to taxpayers when performing taxable acts.

Taxpayers are all organizations and individuals who are eligible to pay a certain type of tax. Vietnamese law does not specifically define the concept of taxpayers but uses a listing method. In particular, taxpayers are mentioned in the following provisions: Article 2 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax No. 14/2008/QH12 (amended and supplemented by Law No. 32/2013/QH13); Article 2 of Decree No. 218/2013/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax; Article 4 of the Law on Value Added Tax No. 13/2008/QH12 (amended and supplemented by Law No. 31/2013/QH13); Article 2 of Decree No. 209/2013/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Value Added Tax; Article 4 of the Law on Special Consumption Tax No. 27/2008/QH12; Article 2 of Personal Income Tax Law No. 04/2007/QH12 (amended and supplemented by Law No. 26/2012/QH13; Article 2 of Decree No. 65/2013/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Personal Income Tax Law and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Personal Income Tax Law.

In addition, foreign-invested enterprises are also listed in Article 2 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Tax Management and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Tax Management, according to which foreign-invested enterprises can be divided into three groups:

Group 1: Organizations, households, and individuals that pay taxes, fees, charges, and other revenues to the state budget that are collected and managed by tax authorities according to the provisions of law.

Second group: Organizations assigned to collect fees and charges from the State budget.

Third group: Organizations and individuals deducting tax; organizations and individuals performing tax procedures on behalf of taxpayers. Including:

(1) Organizations and individuals who are Vietnamese parties signing contracts with foreign organizations and individuals doing business in Vietnam not in accordance with the provisions of the law on investment and not implementing the Vietnamese accounting regime; (2) Organizations and individuals deducting tax when paying income to people with income subject to personal income tax; (3) Organizations acting as shipping agents or agents for foreign shipping companies are responsible for deducting corporate income tax on business activities of transporting goods by sea from Vietnamese seaports to foreign countries or between Vietnamese seaports; (4) Organizations providing tax procedure services; (5) Customs clearance agents for exported and imported goods; (6) Organizations and individuals providing postal services or international express delivery services in cases of paying taxes on behalf of tax-paying organizations and individuals; (7) Credit institutions as prescribed by the Law on Credit Institutions in case of tax payment guarantee for tax-paying organizations and individuals [18].

1.1.2. Legal position of taxpayers in tax law relations Along with the State, taxpayers are a participating entity and play a leading role.

Tax law relationship. This is the subject that has a close, intimate relationship and directly creates and manages the material benefits formed in society. Like other subjects participating in legal relationships, to become a taxpayer in tax law relationships requires organizations and individuals to

full capacity of subject and capacity to act [62]. As a subject in tax legal relations, taxpayers have full rights and obligations when participating in tax legal relations, these rights and obligations are also part of the content of tax legal relations.

There are two different ways of assessing the legal position of a taxpayer depending on the determination of the legal nature of the tax legal relationship.

Firstly, according to the long-standing traditional concept, tax legal relations are administrative legal relations established between competent state agencies and individuals and other organizations in society, regulated by the system of tax legal documents and regulated by the method of authoritative command [62]. From a material perspective, tax legal relations are established to create revenue for the state budget. The premise for establishing tax legal relations is the formation of a state body to manage and operate activities in society. That functional unit needs material resources to operate, so taxes are formed. Therefore, in tax legal relations, the subjects participating as taxpayers are forced to transfer part of their benefits to the state budget.

With this concept, the tax legal relationship is an unequal relationship, in which one side is the state agency - as the person with authority, using state power to demand that organizations and individuals have the obligation to obey its authority, by complying with the obligation to pay taxes according to the law. Meanwhile, the taxpayer, as the person with the obligation to obey, will have absolutely no chance to defend themselves if the authority abuses its authority and causes damage to them. With this assessment, the taxpayer is in a weak position in the tax legal relationship, although in reality, their efforts and contributions to the State are not small at all.

This perspective also risks "depriving" SMEs of opportunities.

necessary for them to be able to openly express their wishes when paying taxes to the state, as well as have the opportunity to defend themselves whenever their legitimate and legal rights are violated by tax authorities. This is absolutely not beneficial for the state because then, people will "turn their backs" on tax policy and take action to not comply with tax policies that they consider unreasonable.

Second, according to Marx's point of view, human rights are the unity of rights and obligations. Therefore, in the tax law relationship, taxpayers must also have certain rights. Therefore, in the context of contemporary society, it is necessary to innovate the concept of tax and tax law relationship, in the direction of considering that the tax law relationship is not entirely an administrative relationship but in essence it has the nature of a fair exchange relationship between two parties (the State and the individual organization that is the taxpayer). This means changing the role of the State in the tax law relationship, in the direction of shifting from the model of "governing agency" to the model of "serving agency". With this concept, we have promoted the position of taxpayers in the tax law relationship and ensured that taxpayers have the ability to defend themselves against the risk of damage caused by illegal acts of tax authorities or tax officials. At that time, the State and taxpayers will be in a more equal position, meaning that the State has fewer rights and taxpayers have more rights than the traditional understanding of tax law relations.

It can be seen that, in the current context, how to perceive the tax legal relationship and determine its nature is a key issue, which has a decisive impact on determining the legal position of taxpayers as well as recognizing the legal rights and obligations of taxpayers in the tax legal relationship. If the determination is incorrect, it will lead to the consequence of "distorting" the true nature of the tax legal relationship and making the State's tax policy a burden for the people.

1.1.3. The role of taxpayers

Currently, tax revenues are an important source of finance to implement the goals, policies, and directions of the State. Taxes are considered the main source of finance to balance regular expenditures. According to the 2002 State Budget Law, regular expenditures of the Central Budget and Local Budgets are balanced by revenues from taxes, fees and charges; excluding localities that are unable to balance regular revenues and expenditures. This shows the dependence of the central government and local governments on tax revenues. The state apparatus operates to serve social entities, including enterprises. Management agencies are ministries, departments, and branches that maintain operations with tax revenues and are also the entities responsible for maintaining a healthy and fair business environment so that enterprises have the conditions to develop, increase income, and increase tax contributions. From the relationship of using tax revenues, it can be seen that the State has essentially become a "service" subject in the true sense rather than a "power" subject [27].

Next, tax revenues play an important role in helping the State organize and manage society and provide public utilities. Due to limited national financial conditions, domestic and foreign loans have become the main channel for mobilizing investment for development. The financial picture in the State Budget Estimate does not reflect the entire debt repayment obligation of the country but only reflects a part of the revenue and expenditure activities in the budget year. The question is which financial sources will be balanced to pay off the loans due?

Public investment in projects that are not able to recover capital will not directly benefit the State budget, but the results of public investment play a positive role in stimulating economic development, increasing national income, and creating benefits for taxpayers. The increase in the value of taxpayers' assets will have an impact.

Actively generate revenue for the state budget, while tax revenues become a source of finance to repay state loans.

However, according to the General Statistics Office, it is estimated that in 2013, the number of enterprises facing difficulties and having to dissolve or cease operations was 60,737, an increase of 11.9% compared to 2012 [61]. Enterprises stopping paying taxes and the alarming unemployment situation are eroding confidence in the role of the State in regulating the macro economy. Of course, the State can hardly expect much from direct and indirect taxes paid to the State budget by enterprises. To overcome this situation, the State needs to promptly issue effective economic and financial policies to help enterprises survive and develop.

1.2. Nature and classification of taxpayer rights

1.2.1. The nature of taxpayers' rights in tax law relations Concept of taxpayers' rights

In general legal relations, the rights of the subjects participating in legal relations are the ways of behaving that the law grants the subjects the right to choose to perform. In other words, the rights of the subjects are the ability of the subjects to behave in a certain way permitted by law [62].

Taxpayers are a subject in tax law relations, so the rights of taxpayers are the ability of taxpayers to act in a certain way as recognized by tax law.

Characteristics of NNT rights

The rights of taxpayers have the common characteristics of subject rights in legal relations, which are:

One is the ability to behave in a certain way as permitted by law.

Second , the ability to request other subjects to stop activities that hinder the exercise of their rights and obligations and to request them to respect the corresponding obligations arising from these rights and obligations.

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